NewOrleansSaints.com will showcase one reason a day to get excited about the start of the 2013 New Orleans Saints Training Camp presented by Verizon. Reason No. 7 – Marques Colston

Marques Colston was selected by the Saints in the seventh round (252nd overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft and has become one of the club’s leading wideouts in almost every receiving category as well as one of the league’s top targets.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Hofstra standout is the club’s all-time leader in receiving and total touchdowns with 58 career scores (tied for second in the NFL since 2006). He is tied with Eric Martin as the team’s all-time receiving leader with 532 grabs for 7,394 yards and is only the third Saint in history with 500 catches and 7,000 yards. The eight-year veteran has made a catch in 70 consecutive games since 2008, fourth in team history.

Colston has led the Saints in receiving yardage five times and holds the franchise record with six 1,000-yard seasons. He is one of only seven NFL players to reach 1,000 receiving yards in six of his first seven seasons.

The 2012 season was one of his most productive. Appearing in all 16 games, Colston ranked first on the team with 1,154 receiving yards (13.9 average) and 10 touchdowns, finished second with 83 receptions and was named to the USA Today All-Joe squad.

Drew Brees on Colston (May 23, 2013):“It definitely takes time (with) a lot of those young guys. It’s funny, you teach the offense a certain way, you teach routes a certain way, and yet if you were to watch me, Marques (Colston) and Lance (Moore) out there, it’s not always the way that it’s written on paper. So a lot of the young guys will be like ‘well, I thought…” but these guys (Brees, Colston and Moore) have been together for eight years. There is this trust, there is this ESP, they see the same things and they know the adjustments off of that. It takes time. It takes a lot of time on task.”

Colston on Colston (Dec. 3, 2012):“I think we, as an organization, have done a great job of bringing in good character guys. It really shows in our (meeting) room, and I think that’s one of the reasons for our success. We have a group that is high in character and handles adversity well, and that’s what you’re going to see week in and week out in this league.”

“It definitely takes time (with) a lot of those young guys. It’s funny, you teach the offense a certain way, you teach routes a certain way, and yet if you were to watch me, Marques (Colston) and Lance (Moore) out there, it’s not always the way that it’s written on paper. So a lot of the young guys will be like ‘well, I thought…” but these guys (Brees, Colston and Moore) have been together for eight years. There is this trust, there is this ESP, they see the same things and they know the adjustments off of that. It takes time. It takes a lot of time on task.”